TriNetre - Archive for October 25, 2003
(no longer updated)
DNS is a very "holy" system in that not many people dare to question the way it works and fewer still dares to suggest a change in the system. This is easily explained by the fact that the whole of the Internet depends on the reliable and accurate working of DNS. Any instability in this system can send tremors across the world.
However, some have started to notice that the DNS is serving a purpose that it was never envisioned to server, that of a directory service. This in turn is blamed for all domain name disputes. Bob Frankston proposes a new system, named dotDNS, that intends to take this issue heads on - "(in dotDNS) The names themselves have little commercial value", he states.
The underlying idea of dotDNS is to restore the DNS to its primary responsibility, that of being a permanent location identifier (or a mapping service). Domains names are of the forum "45.67.6.32.56.5.6.90.9[so long that people will never remember it].dns" These are then mapped to IP address (IPv4/IPv6).
The reader's question would be - you mean I have to remember that huge, ugly looking domain name? No, that is where the external lookup directory service comes into play. An example would be Google. I am guessing that even now, almost always Google provides a better answer to the question - What places do Srijith involve himself in the web, than just Srijith.Net. So in dotDNS when you want general info on me for the first time, you look me up in the lookup directory. This points you to the "ugly looking" domain name. (For use next time, you just bookmark this domain) The DNS then resolves that name to an IP address. In essence, you are separating the now-coupled working of DNS as a directory service and as a mapping service.
This proposal does enable us to split the functionality of the present DNS into two. But hijacks and disputes are still possible. What's more "Great Internet Hijack" of the kind performed by VeriSign's SiteFinder is still a possibility in the new system. What I love to see is a DNS system that can somehow cut our dependency on the good faith of a single entity/organization. More on that later.